Running a business during the G20

I agree that Toronto is ideally suited to host the G20 summit. Toronto
is a diverse and multicultural city, the largest city in Canada and the
centre of finance and commerce. We also have a tolerant and very
competent police force that protects this very beautiful, functional and
livable city.

However, I believe the sacrifice and cost to host this summit is not a
sound business decision.

The Blue Jays have relocated their games to Philadelphia, Mirvish
Productions will close both of their theatres on King Street during the
week of the summit and large commercial tenants that reside in the
financial district are telling their employees to work from home during
the week of the summit.

All of the above will take away a large chunk of business from the
entertainment district merchants. And now that the mayor has suggested
Toronto residents avoid the downtown core during the summit, it
eliminates all of the potential customers that visit the entertainment
district regularly.

There are hundreds of small businesses that are affected by this summit.
The small independent merchants located at street level and inside the
underground pedestrian pathways, will see a drastic reduction of revenue
during the summit week.

Salaries will be cut and hours of work reduced. It affects business
owners and workers equally and exerts tremendous financial stress on the
neighbourhood.
It is expensive to provide safety and security. The losses mentioned
above are not even factored into the massive $1.2 billion security
budget.

Unlike the Blue Jays and Mirvish, small business owners can not afford
to close their stores.

My restaurant colleagues on King Street West (between John Street and
Blue Jays Way) and I have decided to stay open during the summit
weekend. We are working with our BIA to inform the media that businesses
in the Toronto entertainment district are open during the summit.

We are hoping that the 10,000 local residents and some of the 25,000
delegates, visitors, police and security personnel staying in the
downtown hotels will come out and support the local businesses.

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CBC News Your Voice has assembled a team of citizen bloggers and CBC staff to bring you a street level view of Toronto during the global conference. From residents who live inside the security perimeter to business owners and students eager to share their perspectives, the G20: Street Level team will provide you with a 360-degree view of the summit's impact.

Reporters sit next to the fake lake at the G20 media centre in Toronto. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)Leading up to and during the G20 summit in Toronto, CBC News' Street Level blog brought readers extensive reports from around the city. Our... Continue reading this post

A man stands in front of the security fence outside Union Station in Toronto on Monday, June 28 as city life returns to normal following the weekend's G20 demonstrations. (Chris Young/Canadian Press) Leading up to and during the G20 summit... Continue reading this post